


Taking Advantage of Her

by AlgaeNymph



Category: Touhou Project
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-26
Updated: 2015-06-26
Packaged: 2018-04-06 04:52:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4208622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlgaeNymph/pseuds/AlgaeNymph
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Even in repaying a debt, Kanako feels the need to show off her power.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Taking Advantage of Her

    It was a bright and stormy late morning at the Moriya Shrine, the rain and thunder being all that soothed Kanako’s morose mood as she sat on the roof in front of her Outside laptop, her divine will directing away the rain as it fell around them.

    A kappa laptop would have avoided this necessity, but Kanako preferred to be mostly dry, and kappatech had no sense of standardization, much less a place to plug in her USB drive.

    On that drive was one of Kanako’s backup plans, a CAD document with the schematics for an arial tramway, consisting of a large wooden box moved by ropes and pulleys.  It was now one of Kanako’s main plans, if the never-ending tengu blockade and the Underground’s poor performance were any indication. 

    Kanako grimly focused on the screen, moving a hand in the air as if she had a computer mouse. 

     _Is a giant_ ski lift _really going to be my successful legacy?_ she thought.

    She “clicked,” held, and dragged one of the shapes on screen, adjusting one of the steps in the assembly instruction-

     _Oh, Lady Kanako... What should I do now?_

    Kanako’s thought and deed were interrupted by a distressed prayer — from Sanae!

    Kanako’s eyes widened briefly in concern for her priestess, and remained open and focused as Kanako sensed what Sanae did.

    Sanae was to the left of Reimu, who was left of Marisa, and the three looked exhausted.  The unfamiliar woman before them looked worse.  Her attire was dark red and tiger-themed, and so garish that it had to be religious.  The short, blond hair was tiger-stripped, and the woman herself looked tall, strong, and handsome.  Bright red mist was everywhere, and equally-red landmasses loomed below, surrounded by glowing blue-to-purple…something, flowing and mixing.

    Kanako interfaced — that was the proper term, she felt — with a replicant consciousness she kept within Sanae at all times, for just this sort of situation when she needed the whole story immediately.  It not only recorded Sanae’s senses, but her emotions and thoughts as well.  Sanae knew of that, and its ramifications, yet seemed only concerned that Kanako stayed out of her “private life.”  Kanako, for all her amorality, wasn’t one of _those_ goddesses, and had enough of a conscience, to Kanako’s continual surprise and relief, to leave Sanae her mental personal space.

    Kanako sifted through her recorder-self’s memories of Sanae’s first foray into incident resolution, noting how the girl went from reckless cheer to thoughtful uncertainty as she learned more the youkai’s mission.

     _Hijiri_

    Kanako’s pupils narrowed into slits, she remembered tales of the adventurer magician who defied racial tradition, and was sealed for her activism.  Banished, rather, as the seal only kept her in Makai.  If she was still the same person after a thousand years — _Kanako_ wasn’t the same person after a millennium, nor was just about any other immortal — then she had the kind of idealistic determination to be a _threat_ , and such a personality would _not_ have been idle in banishment.

    But a threat to whom?  This Hijiri, if she was indeed the White Lotus Saint she remembered hearing about so long ago, focused on racial harmony between humans and supernatural beings in a land where non-existent ethnic differences were considered tainted aberrations.  Nowhere did Kanako see this as conflicting with her plans, at least not directly.

    She _did_ see it as possibly conflicting with _Yukari’s_ plans.

    Yukari, the laissez-faire anarchist who kept fear-eaters and their natural prey in a zoo, the supernatural wildlife preservationist of sapient beings who instinctually live by the law of the jungle, the woman who sees no wrong in hunting humans for food and sport — with both being the same to her. 

    The woman Kanako was currently a technical subordinate to.

    This Hijiri would most likely feel she could do better…

    …especially considering how cruelly Yukari treats her primary subordinate.  Kanako shuddered at the thought of herself abusing Sanae.

    Not a second had passed since Sanae’s prayer for guidance before Kanako answered.

     _These youkai plan on returning to Gensokyo with Hijiri, so play along for now_ she thought to Sanae.

    Kanako grinned at Sanae’s new-found enthusiasm.

    * * *

    It was a bright and stormy early evening at the Moriya Shrine.  The rain and thunder easing Kanako’s nervousness as she stood in meditation, readying herself to repay a debt of gratitude. 

    How she hated to be in another’s debt, and to a newcomer of all things.

    Still, Kanako made sure her gratitude for Sanae’s safe return would be on her terms.  Kanako would have Suwako reshape the land for Byakuren, but it would be in the presence of the Moriya faithful and as much of an audience as she could get.  Byakuren saw no problem with this, and Kanako was glad that the Myourenji would be easier to work with than the Ikko-Ikki.

    Kanoko interfaced with her other self in Sanae and sensed the world through her priestess.  The young woman was having an animated conversation about the modern world with Byakuren, who was only having trouble understanding the more technological concepts.  _Sealed for over a thousand years, yet speaking modern Japanese without even a slight rural accent.  I wonder if she’s able to learn with that obvious magician’s trick_ Kanako wondered.  _Given Buddhist metaphysics, and this woman’s understanding of such, it wouldn’t surprise me that she is._

    Kanako examined another obvious feat of Byakuren’s magic.  _What kind of Buddhist gives herself a perfect body like that?  She has a bust to rival Sanae’s, but without any fear of back problems judging by her build and height.  I haven’t seen_ Nordic _women this tall; I’ll have to adjust my height._

    Kanako focused back on her primary body: 168 centimeters, her current default; just slightly taller than most Japanese.  She thought back on Byakuren’s height, and estimated her at about 176cm.  _177 should suffice_ Kanako thought, adjusting her height and other two dimensions, feeling her body fill with new mass. 

    She briefly wondered if she should adjust her bust to look more womanly and imposing, but quickly dismissed that notion.  Kanako felt she was just the right size, and that a large bust would admittedly look better on a broader chest like Byakuren’s.  She could make herself as broad as well, but her slim figure felt _right_ , more _serpentine_. 

    Breasts felt so… _mammalian_. 

    Kanako could understand the appeal of breasts from an evolutionary point of view: they were needed so that snoutless infants could suckle with suffocating, and they encouraged face-to-face sex which strengthened social bonds.  She could even appreciate breasts aesthetically, and did feel that they were just the right size to add a graceful slope to her figure.

    Intuitively, however, they didn’t feel like a _part_ of her.  Granted, _limbs_ and _chewing_ felt a bit odd, even after millennia, but those had a practical purpose.

    Kanako took a quick sensory check and found her body and clothing satisfactory.  She projected her senses and noted with approval that her waypoint shrine was set up for her to make an appearance.

     _Which reminds me, I need to set up some rain._

    Kanako would need her preferred weather if she were to make an ideal appearance.  Nothing heavy, of course; not even the Moriya faithful enjoyed being out in the rain.  Also, a heavy rain would block out the lovely sunset; this was Byakuren’s day as well, and the twilight’s beauty was why the newcomer scheduled the exhibition for this time.

    Kanako felt the sky above Sanae, and the area to be reshaped for the Myouren Temple: clear, except for that treasure ship of Hijiri’s.  Kanako felt it with the wind and estimated it to be at the small end of modern-day size estimates, about the size of a superyacht.  It wouldn’t be a problem, nor experience any problem.  She went ahead and pulled together wind and moisture, and clouds began to form.  She felt the ship again and took more precise measurements.  Suwako would need them to properly shape the depression the Buddhists wanted. 

    She heard through Sanae the murmurings of the crowd and know her work was good.  Sanae acted on this and exited her conversation with Byakuren to address Moriya faithful.  Soon, there as just enough precipitation to rain without obscuring the pink-and-purple sky.

    One final preparation…

     _Suwako, you have the measurements?_ Kanako thought to Suwako.

     _Yep!_ came the mental reply.

     _Also, have you found anything of interest beneath the land designated for reshaping?_

     _Oh yeah. Some sort of religious structure.  Architecture looks old, about early Heian Era.  Looks odd too, I think it may be Taoist._

     _Still too early to tell if they’d be allies or enemies, given that their religions aren’t incompatible.  However, I doubt the current occupants would appreciate a youkai treasure ship parked above it._

     _Especially if they remember the bad old days of human-youkai relations.  So, we warn them or not?_

     _Anything else to note about the location they chose?_

     _The feng suei is_ perfect _, no way will they’ll wanna move from_ this _spot._

     _Then we might as well keep silent.  Hijiri has a dowser among her followers, so she has to know there’s_ something _beneath her chosen spot.  Let us not meddle this._

     _Hey, you’re learning!_

     _That’s how I adapt to a changing world, my dear._ At that, she cut Suwako off before she could offer any more passive-aggressive remarks, and prepared to appear before her congregation.

    At the location for the new Buddhist temple, the clouds boomed.

    “A sign from our goddess!” Sanae cheerly shouted to the crowd, vigorously waving her gohei.  “Ready yourselves for her glorious arrival!”

     ** _CRACKOOM!_**

    In a sudden bolt of lightning, Kanako appeared, hand on hips and exuding confidence.  Sanae and the Moriya congregation prostrated before her.  Byakuren gave a polite bow.  Byakuren’s followers, _their captain seems to be absent_ Kanako thought, simply looked on cautiously.

    Kanako wasted no time addressing her followers.  “Devotees of the Moriya Faith, I welcome you to this glorious occasion.  Among you are the newcomers to our land of Gensokyo, a Buddhist sect devoted to peace between human and youkai.”  Kanako felt some apprehension from her followers toward that fact, but noted none dare speak.  “They have so far shown themselves to be honorable, for our priestess of the winds, Sanae Kochiya, has convinced them to return her from Makai back to our home land of Gensokyo.”  She felt some relief among her followers, but saw that the mouse youkai among the Buddhists looked annoyed at her bending the truth.  “The Moriya Faith has deemed them worthy of a boon, and so I shall reward them with land of their choosing to be reshaped as they desire.”

    “Get on with it, ya blowhard!”

    Kanako’s divine senses heard someone from the flying ship.  Thankfully, nobody else did so she continued undeterred.

    Kanako grandly gestured towards a patch of shrubbery.  “Behold, the power of Moriya!  Behold, and worship!”

    At that, the ground began to rumble…and bend.  Suddenly, several white, serpentine forms — the Mishguji, kami of curses, only controllable by Suwako — undulated in and out of the ground, phasing in and out of it without leaving a trace.

    Kanako smirked and watched Suwako’s handiwork and the audience before her.  Sanae was playing her part of religious cheerleader perfectly, shouting praise for the Moriya Faith.  The Moriya faithful seemed a bit undecided whether to bow before Kanako or bear witness to Suwako’s miracle.  _I’ll let them decide on their own and note who does what_ Kanako thought.  _The better I know my faithful, the better I can utilize them._

    …Beneath the grass, the earth flowed out of a designated area, flowing in around the area, raising the ground briefly before flattening out…

    Kanako looked towards the Buddhists, who were now watching the landsculpting with interest.  She suspected their mood improved with her speech done, but didn’t fool herself into thinking that their relationship with her was any more devotional than a landowner inspecting a construction project.  Particularly notable was Byakuren’s interest, as she had her glowing scroll out and was chanting something as the text in her artifact sped rapidly by.  The magician was close enough to Suwako’s handiwork, dangerously close were she fully mortal, that Kanako could project her senses and listen.

    …On the surface, an ovoid depression in the grass was quickly becoming noticeable…

    However, she couldn’t _comprehend_ Byakuren’s speech.  As a goddess, Kanako was omnilungual and perfectly able to understand everything from Japanese to English to Sanskrit to even Makaian.  What Byakuren was speaking was arcane speech: a magician’s idiosyncratic quasi-language used more as a tool than a medium of communication. 

    It was a cypher, and therefore _de_ cipherable.

    …As the pit grew, the sinking earth parted the grass, leaving the bottom bare of life…

    While not a true language, Byakuren’s arcane speech did use parts of languages.  Kanako noted Sanskrit, Pali ( _Like there’s any real difference between the two_ Kanako thought), Classical Chinese, Middle Japanese, and Makaian.  She listened not to how the parts sounded, but how they _felt_ ; while each individual could feel differently about the same thing, anything used in the alteration of physical reality, even if only as a mental aid, had to be universal enough to be at least _understood_.

    So Kanako listened to the sounds of Byakuren’s chanting, how flowing, strong, and _earthy_ they fel-

     _She trying to replicate Suwako’s power!_

    Kanako almost hissed in irritation when she noticed that the earth stopped moving.  she thought for a moment that she ordered Suwako to stop, but as she saw the Mishaguji glide into the earth one final time she knew that the work was completed: the terrain was flattened around a heavily slanted, ovoid depression that would fit the flying ship currently floating down towards it.  It slowly, slowly lowered itself down into the sharply-sloped pit…and fit perfectly, with nary a stray millimeter.  _And well it should, I would give Suwako nothing but perfect measurements to work with._

     _But why is the ship still floating slightly?_

    Byakuren was done chanting, though her scroll was still unfurled.  She and her followers then walked onto the ship, now temple complex, and partway up the stairs to the old main cabin, now new official temple.  They turned around, and Byakuren began chanting again, the same flowing, strong, earthy sounds she was vocalizing earlier. 

    With a faint rumbling sound, the sod beneath the ship pealed out of the hole Suwako had just shaped, bunching up around the ship.  When it all pulled itself out, the ship finally lowered itself flush with the bare ground.  Once resting firmly on the soil, the magician’s chanting changed patterns and the dirt in the pit shifted and pressed itself against the ship, ensuring the deck stayed parallel to the ground. 

    Kanako didn’t feel a loss of faith had her congregation watched the spectacle, much to her relief, but she could feel they were impressed with this magician’s savvy.

    The chant changed patterns again, and the two folds of topsoil then slid onto the deck of the ship, merging with each other in the center.  Another variance in the chant, and with a light rumbling some of the replaced earth now surrounding the ship flowed into a line leading away from the new temple entrance, creating a long, thin mound of bare dirt.  The last change in chant felt more hard and controlling.  With loud crackling, the rise lowered, fusing and condensing into a stone slab walkway.

    Byakuren completed her chanting, smiled serenely, and gave Kanako a deep bow.

    “I thank you very much for your gratitude,” she said, “the Myouren Temple would not have been so easily placed without your assistance.”

    “An impressive show of power,” Kanako said, “I thank you for showing yourself to be a worthy ally of the Moriya Faith.”

    The tiger woman ( _Shou, I believe)_ whispered something to Byakuren, who nodded after a bit.  “Now that we have shown off to each other, shall we get to know each other as friends?”  Byakuren said.  “A few minutes ago, Sanae was telling me of her favorite fables and how they inspired her.  Assuming she would not find it embarrassing, I was curious as to what her foremost mother felt about them.”

    Kanako looked to Sanae, who sensed her goddess’ unspoken question and nodded assent.

    Kanako turned to Byakuren and gave a polite bow and smile.  “Then let us speak of casual matters then,” she said simply, knowing anything more could be used against her.  She turned to her congregation.  “Faithful of Moriya, you are free to listen, or go about your lives as will.  I thank you all for witnessing our miracle.”

    As Kanako walked toward the main temple building, noting a few of the faithful were heading inside as well, she contacted Suwako again.

     _Let’s start with the bad news._

     _Besides your attempt to show her up getting turned around on you?_

     _Of course_ Kanako thought tersely.

     _Well, if it helps, she probably knew earth magic already.  It’s too useful for a magician not to._

     _Did you sense her controlling earth on that scale when she was adventuring?_

     _No, but she technically didn’t do that much._

     _That was not novice-level magic she performed, nor do I think she was capable of doing such before watching you work._

     _She did look like she was relying on that scroll a lot._

     _Which she formed out of nothing but iridescent, angular mist, and without the aid of tools._

     _Sounds like you already know just how powerful she is.  Too bad you can’t push her around, eh?_

     _That’s what I have you for, dear._

     _You’re lucky I’m a total bottom, ‘cause no one else would put up with your abu-_

    Kanako cut Suwako off, coincidentally just as she was reaching the temple entrance.  _Is there really no difference between gods and youkai?_ she thought to herself, remembering the magician’s words just before she fought Sanae and her companions.  As she walked inside the main hall, vaguely noticing the high-quality decoration, her attention went to the seated guests and hosts: she saw Sanae talking with Byakuren again, Byakuren’s followers and a few Moriya faithful sitting watching with vague interest…and Suwako, who gave a cheery wave in greeting.

    “Hiya, Kana-chan!  Miss me?”

    Kanako’s pupil’s slitted as she gave a predatory smirk.  _I’ll show you how much when we get home_ she thought to Suwako.

    Sanae turned to wave at Kanako.  “Welcome back, Lady Kanako.  I was just telling Byakuren about this Western anime featuring a mouse who’s as good with tech as a kappa.  Oh, and Byakuren identifies with mice for some reason.”

    Kanako walked over to sit down.  “Interesting, please tell me more about it,” she said.  _Especially since snakes eat mice_ she thought to herself.  _Still, mice in fables are notoriously guileful; best not to underestimate her…_

**Author's Note:**

> I like how description-filled this fic is. It's easier than dialogue-heavy prose in that I I don't have to fuss with dialog tags. However, I need to be extra vivid with my details.
> 
> The trickiest part was the thaumababble, but it worked once I figured something out.
> 
> What I think this fic excels at is Kanako's characterization. She's the round, morally ambiguous sort who's be interesting to write for. :)


End file.
